


Snapback and Snapshots

by exobubz



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, Romance, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-15 03:25:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14782764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exobubz/pseuds/exobubz
Summary: Baekhyun was a Sone and being associated with the Blackjack Park Chanyeol was not an option.





	Snapback and Snapshots

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this back in 2014, but I'm reuploading it here on AO3.

He hated him. A lot, actually.  
  
Glaring at the massive sore thumb in the crowd, Baekhyun frowned at the male that held a spot of envy. From where he stood, he had to compete with those around him just to get a shot. Of course, Baekhyun brought his trusty green stool to help him with his height issue, but either way, the giant tool up front was irritating.  
  
The worst part about it all was that the giant bastard was a 2NE1 fan. If anything, the guy should have graciously let Baekhyun stand with him because of the simple fact that he needed to get in quickly to get the best seat for SNSD’s performance. But course, the giant wasn’t that courteous, because the cocky bastard hated the short SNSD fan.  
  
It was obvious.  
  
Turning his curly, blonde head back, the giant made eye contact with Baekhyun, who was glaring ten feet away. Scoffing, he smirked before cockily blowing up his bubblegum until it popped. Then, as if to rub it in the smaller fan’s face, the spaghetti-headed asshole lifted his oversized DLSR and shot a photo of Baekhyun flipping the middle finger.  
  
After reviewing the single shot, Baekhyun watched as the douche laughed to himself before turning back around and ignoring him.  
  
He really hated Park Chanyeol.  
  
Pissed off, Baekhyun decided to hell with it. Picking up his green stool, he stepped out of the semi- organized line and marched his way to the front, shouldering the giant asshole into making room for him to squeeze through. It wasn’t long until Baekhyun heard angry mumbling behind him, but after the 2NE1 fan boy beside him turned his head around, the murmurings stopped.  
  
“Did you wake up late today, short one?” Chanyeol snorted, glancing down at the smaller male who was holding his stool with one hand, yet looked like he was about to topple over because of the large camera hanging around his neck. “It’s so strange to see you all the way back there with the rest of the losers who think they’ll get good photos in the back.”  
  
“Shut up,” Baekhyun muttered, huffing as he gripped his stool. “I wasn’t even that late.”  
  
“Later than me.”  
  
“I could’ve taken a train and you still would’ve gotten here before me with your legs,” the shorter male remarked.  
Smacking the gum around in his mouth, Chanyeol shrugged. “What made you think you could cut up here with me?”  
  
“Because your face pissed me off and you don’t deserve to get in first.”  
  
“Neither do late losers.”  
  
“I wasn’t even that late!” Baekhyun cried loudly, causing Chanyeol to stifle an amused laugh. “I was literally right there!”  
  
Blowing up a bubble, Chanyeol shook his head disapprovingly at the defensive fan boy. “Babe, you cut about twenty people.”  
  
In a second, the bubble had popped and Baekhyun’s face had heated as his jaw slacked at the remark. Retaliating, he turned his stool’s plastic legs towards the giant and shoved it harshly against him. Feeling the legs stab into him, Chanyeol yelled, jumping back and accidentally falling backwards, losing his place in line.  
  
If Baekhyun wasn’t satisfied enough, when the front doors opened to begin letting in fans from certain groups, he was over the moon then. As he shuffled towards the entrance, eyeing the way Chanyeol was slowly sitting up on the ground, he stuck his tongue out at the giant. “Have fun taking pictures of your girls lose all the way in the back! That’ll get traffic going on your site alright.”  
  
Baekhyun laughed until he got to the doorway and was told he couldn’t take his stool inside with him. Shrugging, Baekhyun tossed it over to Chanyeol, hitting the boy on the head with the plastic invention. And if there was a slight moment in which Baekhyun felt some remorse, it was gone by the time he stepped inside and began pushing other girls aside for the best spot.  
  
-  
-  
  
When Baekhyun got home, he was ecstatic as hell. The first thing he did was go over the photos that he took—no doubt were they perfect because of where he stood. Taking photos of the DLSR screen with his cellphone, Baekhyun began taking pictures of what he wanted to release as previews for Sunny’s beautiful face. After he finished, he slipped his camera’s memory card onto his laptop and began transferring all his shots over. As he waited for the thousand shots to load, he edited the previews using a photo editing application on his cellphone.  
  
He was in no hurry. Unlike all the new fan sites, Baekhyun already had a following, therefore he didn’t need to rush for the first upload, but that didn’t mean he could just fool around his time away. Just as he finished his fourth preview photo and was about to move on to tagging his fifth, his saw the text notification that dropped down at the top of his phone.  
  
 **From PCY:**  
 _What a rude little runt._  
  
Rolling his eyes, Baekhyun ignored the message and went back to tagging, eventually uploading three preview photos onto Weibo and Twitter before being notified of another text from the 2NE1 fan site master. Again, Baekhyun was about to ignore, but this time, it seemed like the asshole wasn’t going to stop until he replied back.  
  
 **From PCY:**  
 _I know your phone is on._  
  
 **From PCY:**  
 _Don’t be rude and answer me, short stuff._  
  
 **From PCY:**  
 _I need an apology from you, babe._  
  
 **From PCY:**  
 _I know you’re on your phone. I can see you’re uploading your previews._  
  
Frustrated, Baekhyun finally answered back, but it wasn’t like he wanted to. He had questions to answer, previews to upload, and photos to quickly edit, stamp, and upload on his large fan site, but Chanyeol’s constant texting was irritating and distracting.  
  
 **From Shorty:**  
 _I’m not going to apologize. No pain, no gain._  
  
 **From PCY:**  
 _I scratched my elbow and I had to fight my way for a decent spot, runt._  
  
 **From Shorty:**  
 _I’m crying for you. Really._  
  
 **From PCY:**  
 _Say you’re sorry._  
  
 **From Shorty:**  
 _It’s not my fault you fell back and lost your spot._  
  
 **From PCY:**  
 _Don’t be like that._  
  
 **From Shorty:**  
 _Go away. I have previews to upload._  
  
 **From PCY:**  
 _Honey, you need to learn how to treat me better. But anyways, what do you want me to do about your plastic stool._  
  
 **From Shorty:**  
 _Drop it off in front of my dorm room._  
  
 **From PCY:**  
 _Got it._  
  
Afterwards, Baekhyun went back to uploading the rest of the previews that he had to offer and began editing his picture, picking and choosing which made Sunny look like the true goddess that she was. Thirty minutes into editing, he heard a knock at his door. Looking at the time, Baekhyun knew that it wasn’t his roommate, who had class at the moment.  
  
He had class, too, but he was ditching for obvious reasons, and as far as Baekhyun knew, there was only one other kid that he knew who was ditching as well.  
  
Trudging to the door, Baekhyun turned the knob and was met with the sight of the giant who had carried his laptop and charger with him all the way to Baekhyun’s room. Hearing the screeching of plastic, Baekhyun looked down and saw the tall boy push his green stool inside the room with his feet. Without asking, Chanyeol nudged past Baekhyun and made himself at home, jumping and taking a seat on Baekhyun’s roommate’s bed.  
  
“I thought you were just dropping this off,” Baekhyun said, pointing at the plastic stool as he closed the door.  
  
“My roommate wanted to have sex with his boyfriend,” Chanyeol said nonchalantly as he shrugged. “I didn’t want to be around.”  
  
“Go edit your photos downstairs in the lobby.”  
  
“No.”  
  
Rolling his eyes, Baekhyun inwardly sighed as he moved back to his desk, continuing to blur out all the faces that didn’t matter, which were basically the other members and sometimes the MC. For a while, the only thing that could be heard in the room were the sounds of mouse pads being tapped on until, as usual, the giant taking up space in the corner opened his mouth.  
  
“Do you have gum?”  
  
All the activity that Baekhyun was doing paused as he tried to collect himself without blowing up at the idiot. “No.”  
  
“Does your roommate have gum?”  
  
“Park, you know we don’t have gum in this room ever,” Baekhyun said sharply, rotating his seat to face the giant smirking at him. “Why do you keep asking the same question over and over again when you know that I’m going to tell you no?”  
  
“Maybe if I ask enough times, you’ll say yes.”  
  
“Go buy your own gum before you come in here,” Baekhyun muttered, turning back to his laptop. “Gum addict.”  
  
“I forgot to take some before I left my room,” Chanyeol explained, uploading his first preview. If Baekhyun knew about the pace the taller boy worked, he would have cried blood.  
  
Snorting, Baekhyun went about to organizing the new photos on his site. “Why do you constantly eat gum? It’s gross.”  
  
“I like having minty fresh breath,” Chanyeol replied, watching Baekhyun’s back although the preview was already uploaded and all he needed were captions. “What if I wanted to kiss someone in the moment?”  
  
“Uh, ew.”  
  
“Just a thought.”  
  
“Who’d want to kiss you?” Baekhyun scoffed, breaking into a small laugh. “You chase around girls with a camera and run a fan site. No girl wants to date you.”  
  
“Same goes for you, right?”  
  
“I don’t need girls,” Baekhyun mumbled. “I just need Sunny.”  
  
Shaking his head, Chanyeol went back to looking at his screen and dragging the pictures he was releasing that hour and organizing a few others to upload later. “What’s so special about her, anyways? I’ve seen her. I don’t know what you see in her, though.”  
  
“I could say the same thing about you and 2NE1,” Baekhyun threw back, yawning.  
  
Bobbing his head from side to side, Chanyeol decided not to fire back. “Whatever, runt. It’s not like Sunny will be interested in short guys like you, anyhow. You’re too short to love.”  
  
Becoming defensive, Baekhyun took a pen from his desk and threw it at Chanyeol’s head. Unfortunately for him, Chanyeol moved and the object hit the wall behind him. “You’re too…too…too weird looking!” Baekhyun weakly snapped. “The only reason why Dara looks at your camera is because you’re the ugliest thing in the crowd!”  
  
Chanyeol stifled a laugh in front of the frustrated brunet. “Yawn, babe. Got anything else?”  
  
“You have a big mouth!”  
  
With his self-control lost, Chanyeol threw his head back and burst into a fit of laughter. “Your insults suck, babe.”  
  
“And stop calling me ‘babe’!” the brunet snapped. “We’re not friends. I don’t know if you stumbled down the stairs on your way up here, but you must be fucked in the head if you think we are! And what the hell! Why can’t you go to the library to do your editing!? Why the freakin’ hell do you insist on sitting your giant ass on Kyungsoo’s bed and think that it’s okay to talk to me like we’re friends!?”  
  
“Calm down…babe.”  
  
Baekhyun’s eyes flared. “You’re a piece of shit,” he spat.  
  
“You’re a sassy little one,” Chanyeol laughed, shrugging. “We all have our flaws, right? No need to be so angry, hon. All I asked for was gum.”  
  
“Are you shitting me, Park?”  
  
“Even if I could shit on you, that wouldn’t be the most sanitary thing to do.”  
  
Absolutely done with the pointless argument, Baekhyun turned back around. “I hope your stupid fan site shuts down.”  
  
“Thank you,” Chanyeol said with all respect. “And for the record, I took the elevator to get here.”  
  
-  
-  
  
Their relationship was kind of weird, but to Baekhyun it was pretty clear that there was no relationship to even discuss. Chanyeol ran a 2NE1 fan site because, as the giant shamelessly self-proclaimed, he was their biggest fan boy. As for Baekhyun, he was a loyal Sone. Always have been and always will be.  
  
It was clear to everyone who knew the two personally that there was some sort of high electricity tension between the two, but nine out of ten people would agree in the fact that most of that tension came from Baekhyun’s part. The smaller male didn’t seem to hold any type of like for the tall, curly haired giant, but the same couldn’t be said about Chanyeol.  
  
Often times, the tall one would tease and play along, competing with Baekhyun whenever they had the chance to bump into one another at music shows.  
  
When they first met, however, Baekhyun didn’t hate the boy, who was too tall for his own good. In fact, he liked him, even. It happened on one of those nights in which his friends decided to drag him over to a karaoke bar along with other people, who Baekhyun wasn’t really familiar with.  
  
At first, Chanyeol was funny and charming. His hair was unusual, but Baekhyun secretly liked it. The two of them click right off the bat, but things went downhill when it was Baekhyun’s turn to sing and, like always, he chose one of Girls’ Generation’s song.  
  
“Is this a joke?” the tall male laughed.  
  
For a second, Baekhyun thought that he was merely playing, subtly teasing him for his song of choice. However, Chanyeol went on.  
  
“Your taste in music can’t be this bad, right?”  
  
No, Baekhyun thought, his taste in music wasn’t bad. Then, despite all the laughs and jokes that they shared, the brunet turned around, picked up the song book, and thrusted it straight into the giant’s face.  
  
“Don’t insult my girls,” Baekhyun warned.  
Bewildered, Chanyeol creased his brows as he looked at the pissed off little male. “Calm down, you crazy Sone.”  
  
Baekhyun didn’t turn around to check, but he safely assumed that he broke Chanyeol’s nose that night.  
A few days after, as he waited in line for a music show, camera strung around his neck, he turned to his left and saw a familiar face, three people behind him. At first, he couldn’t believe his little eyes as to what he was seeing, but it made him hate the individual even more.  
  
There, Chanyeol stood. His nose had some sort of Band-Aid on it, which made Baekhyun feel triumphant. His hair was just as curly and blond as the last time Baekhyun saw. But of all the things that caught his attention, it was the large sign that the giant douche was holding up reading, “Sandara, I love you!”  
  
And that was how Baekhyun found out about Chanyeol’s love for 2NE1.  
  
-  
-  
  
Life as fan site master wasn’t exactly the easiest thing in the world, but Baekhyun figured that it was alright since it was for his favorite woman in the whole wide world—except his mom. He took the job as seriously as he could, while at the same time, managing his classes and assignments without falling behind considering how many days of lessons he actually misses due to SNSD’s schedule.  
  
There were others who helped him take photos, but he preferred being the one taking them at the end of the day. When it came to overseas schedule, he had other people and other fan sites to take his place, which was why Baekhyun had been bustling about for days, trying to contact volunteers in Japan.  
  
A Korean pop benefit concert was about to take place in a week and Baekhyun needed to make arrangements for express banner shipping and gathering wilful fans of his site to do him the honor getting the pictures.  
  
Chanyeol had slipped the concert topic the day before the actual event in the cafe shop where Baekhyun had the unfortunate luck of bumping into the giant beanstalk. And although he wanted nothing to do with the guy, Baekhyun found himself cornered into a seat meant for two people, which Chanyeol took advantage of the moment he sat his ass down on the empty seat.  
  
“2NE1’s going, too.”  
  
Baekhyun didn’t care. “Wonderful.”  
  
“I checked the lineup online and saw that SNSD will be the fourth going on stage,” Chanyeol grinned, sipping his black coffee, which Baekhyun thought was disgusting since he disliked the bitter taste. “My girls will be going up as the sixth act.”  
  
Sipping on his drink and trying to act like he was busy on his cellphone, Baekhyun scoffed. “I know. I checked the list, too.”  
  
“How many volunteers did you manage to recruit?” Chanyeol asked, fully aware of what Baekhyun was doing, which was trying to bore him into leaving.  
  
“Six,” Baekhyun quickly replied. “Are you done with the questions?”  
  
“Are you going to the airport tomorrow?”  
  
Rolling his eyes, Baekhyun bit back his tongue. “Yes. I am.”  
  
“I’ll be seeing you there, then,” Chanyeol grinned. “I checked and saw that your girls and my girls will be on the same flight.”  
  
“If you mean that my girls will be sitting in first class while yours sit in the back of the plane, then yes, they will be on the same flight. I checked.” Baekhyun sighed. Looking up from his cellphone, he cocked his head. “Are you done now?”  
  
“Babe, being nice to me would do you some good,” Chanyeol grinned, putting a hand on his heart. “I’m a great guy and 2NE1’s a great group, you know.”  
  
Baekhyun gave him a lopsided a frown. “You’re a douche, who thinks my taste in music is bad. You—and your fifteen story hair—can kiss my ass.”  
  
“You know,” Chanyeol said, forcibly pushing Baekhyun’s phone on the table when the brunet tried to distract himself with it once again, “I’m going to Tokyo tomorrow—yes, I’ll actually be there. So, if you’re not nice, a certain runt who’s too short to love won’t be getting a cute plushie souvenir from me or shots of Sunny’s beautiful face.”  
  
Bringing his brows together, Baekhyun’s frown deepened as his eyes darted from his phone and Chanyeol’s eyes. “What the hell? I never asked you to do any of that, you ass. Don’t make yourself out to be some sort of saint, because I know you’re not. I have volunteers. I don’t need you. I’m not a charity case and neither is my site, so fuck off.”  
  
Chanyeol mockingly pouted before he moved his hand away and shrugged, leaning against his chair. “If you didn’t cuss so much at me, I’d actually think that you have a pretty little mouth.” As Baekhyun tried to organize his thoughts for a comeback, the taller male picked up his drink and pointed an index finger from his busy hand in Baekhyun’s direction before walking out. “I’m kidding. Rude or not, you’re physically blessed.”  
  
-  
-  
  
The day of the concert was hectic for Baekhyun, who was constantly checking his phone for photo updates from his volunteers abroad. When his professor began to get annoyed by his mumblings, Baekhyun promptly left as he decided that he wasn’t going to deal with stress and a professor that was ready to chew his ass on it.  
  
-  
-  
  
When Baekhyun logged onto his social networking sites late that night as he began to receive photos by the dozens by his faithful volunteers, he noticed the amount of activity going with Chanyeol’s account. Feeling some slice of jealousy that the giant was able to attend and physically be there to cheer on his bias group, Baekhyun frowned and ignored the latter’s account as he proceeded to upload previews and began working on editing the photo submissions.  
  
-  
-  
  
“She was so beautiful.”  
  
“Hn.”  
  
“I mean, I think…When she was singing her part in ‘I Love You’, I swear she was looking at me.”  
  
Having been reminded that Chanyeol was not only there, but also just a few rows from the main stage, Baekhyun rolled his eyes, trying not to feel too envious. “You’re just a fan in a crowd of many. Don’t flatter yourself. It’s sad to look at you when you do this.”  
  
“And it’s very sad to see you falling behind on school,” Chanyeol snorted.  
  
Inwardly sighing, Baekhyun looked around the university cafeteria, wondering why of all the place to sit, Chanyeol decided to sit right in front of him. But then again, the giant never passed up an opportunity to rub it in his face whenever he got something that Baekhyun really wanted as well.  
  
“You know,” Baekhyun said, cocking his head, “you’re distracting me from finishing this assignment right now. Do you mind leaving?”  
  
Puckering his lips in a playful manner, Chanyeol glanced down at the table and quickly swiped Baekhyun’s papers away from him. “Mass communication thesis.”  
  
“Yes, now give it back,” Baekhyun muttered, reaching for the paper over the table.  
  
Moving his hand, Chanyeol kept the papers in his possession. “Need help? I can help.”  
  
“Uh, no.”  
  
“Just say yes, you stupid runt.”  
  
Pointing a finger straight in Chanyeol’s face, Baekhyun glared. “Give me my papers now, Park. I have things to do and this is the only time I have in getting some work done because then I have other things that needed to be done. You know how complicated it is starting a photo book, right? I’m starting one, but I don’t know why I’m talking to you about it. Just give me the papers.”  
  
The teasing look on Chanyeol’s face wavered, replaced by a look of both concern and irritation. “Quit pushing school off.”  
  
“You push school off, too!” Baekhyun exclaimed, getting defensive. “You even took a few days off for the Japan concert, so don’t even talk!”  
  
Laughing in the smaller male’s face, Chanyeol looked smug in Baekhyun’s eyes. “I spoke to my professors about it and got ahead. You, on the other hand, have been here and are still falling behind. So, just accept my help.”  
  
“Never from a Blackjack.”  
  
Rolling his eyes, Chanyeol groaned. “Don’t be immature.”  
  
“Oh, because I’m a Sone? I’m immature because I’m a Sone?”  
  
“Baekhyun, I didn’t mean it like that—”  
  
Standing up, Baekhyun quickly took the papers back into his possession, quickly putting them in his bag and gathering his tray. “Thanks for the offer, but we’re not even friends,” he mumbled as he start putting his bowls and utensils on the plastic slate. “I’m going to have to say no.”  
  
Giving the brunet a lopsided frown, Chanyeol leaned on the table, watching him. “We could be—”  
  
“I have to go. I’ll see you around,” Baekhyun said, cutting him off.  
  
As he walked away to put his garbage in the trash can and plates back to the drop off area, Chanyeol blew out air from his mouth as he groaned, running a frustrated hand through his hair before standing up to leave just when people were beginning to whisper about how he was just ditched.  
  
-  
-  
  
Chanyeol hadn’t bothered him in weeks. This was a good thing, Baekhyun presumed, but he found himself somewhat bothered by the lack of the companion that he was used to having.  
  
The thought of missing the one person he didn’t really give much shit for didn’t linger as Baekhyun became more and more involved in his work. Sunnydaysz9, his fan site for his beloved goddess, was in competition with another fan site for Sunny. Baekhyun wasn’t very bothered until rumors started floating around about how he had violently shoved the fan site master for the other site for the best shot, which he thought was absolutely absurd.  
  
Although he was labelled as a stalker fan, he believed that unnecessary physical contact was both troublesome and rude. So although he might’ve shoulder shoved someone, he most definitely would not have been intensely violent, especially to a girl.  
  
It took some time, but eventually, he set up a date with the girl, whose name was Sunmi. Not having thought about it, he took her to the café that he often frequented and ended up having a hard time trying to talk business with the woman with the curly haired giant sitting behind her, giving him intense stares for long durations at a time.  
  
-  
-  
  
“You’re stressing yourself out.”  
  
Puffing his cheeks with air for five seconds, Baekhyun turned to Kyungsoo and blew it all out before turning his swivel chair back around to continue on working. “I have a lot of things to do. First, I need to contact my fan artist. I’m going to see a sample of what she has planned for the photo book. Next, I need to organize all the photos again, page by page. I also need to check in with the graphics designer I hired last week to make the cover. Then, I have the—”  
  
Shaking his head, Kyungsoo sat up on his bed, crossing his legs. “What about your school work?”  
  
“Later. I’ll do those later.”  
  
“You’re falling behind,” Kyungsoo reminded in a tired voice as he fell back on the mattress. Staring up at the ceiling, he yawned as he took note that it was already ten at night. “You know that kid? With the curly hair? The really tall one?”  
  
Baekhyun’s hand froze for a second before continuing to move and blur out the unnecessary faces behind Sunny during a signing event that took place a few days prior. “Chanyeol. What about him?”  
  
“He caught up with me a few times,” Kyungsoo confessed. “I don’t know, but he seemed concerned for you.”  
  
Rolling his eyes, Baekhyun turned his head back to look in his roommate’s direction. “Tell him to stop. He has no business worrying about me.”  
  
“Are you sure about that?”  
  
“We’re not friends.”  
“Then why does he follow you around and hang out here?” Kyungsoo asked.  
  
Returning his attention back to his screen, Baekhyun shrugged to himself. “Beats me.”  
  
-  
-  
  
Here and there, Baekhyun would see Chanyeol. Sometimes, they would start an eye contact until Baekhyun decided he had better things to do than to share moments with the tall guy who thought his music taste was complete shit.  
  
Then, after a few months had passed since Chanyeol began to give him his space, Baekhyun found himself crying.  
  
-  
-  
  
Bad luck.  
  
Baekhyun always had the worst of luck some days, but he was absolutely broken when it happened on that one particular day.  
  
SNSD was at the airport along with other artists to board a flight to China for a charity concert event. It was absolutely crowded despite how early he had to get up and go to the airport just for photos. As he waited, he saw 2NE1 pass as well as their fans crowding to get photos. He wondered if Chanyeol was in that crowd, but Baekhyun didn’t have the care—or pride—to see.  
  
When his girls came out, the frenzy began. Baekhyun stood on the platform of a high pillar to get above the rest just as the girls walked by. Holding down the snap button, he took almost a hundred shots in just a minute. As SNSD began walking farther away towards check in, so did the crowd, and that’s when Baekhyun had his mishap.  
  
Too focused on looking through his lenses, he was unable to catch himself from falling forward and people began to bump and push him from behind, just enough to make him lose his balance. Stumbling down, he lets go of his camera. The initial sound of the lens breaking was what swerved his attention from his aching body and to his beloved camera. As he reached for it, the device moved as it was kicked by the crowd.  
  
Limping up, he tried to fight the crowd to retrieve his camera, but suddenly a hand grabbed him by his satchel and pulled him back. Baekhyun was close to shedding a tear when he felt that tug. It seemed like the world was somewhat against him.  
  
When he tried to walk forward again, just like before, he was pulled back, but this time, he saw a figure wearing a snapback and hoodie walk past him and push their way through the crowd, emerging seconds later with the camera in their hand.  
  
Soon, a hand held out his camera towards him, but Baekhyun didn’t take it immediately. Instead he glared up at the boy who straightened his hair that day. “What’re you doing here, Chanyeol?”  
  
“I’m just taking pictures of my girls, Baek.”  
  
“Your girls came and left an hour ago.”  
  
Chanyeol shrugged. “I stuck around because I have a flight to catch soon, alright?”  
  
Glancing at the device in Chanyeol’s large hands, Baekhyun pursed his lips before he begrudgingly took the camera back, inspecting it. Cursing, he bit his lips to stop himself from breaking out in a crazy frenzy. Looking back up, he saw that the crowd following his girls was faithfully following them to the check-in counter, leaving the area that he was in isolated as hell.  
  
Tracing the damage, Baekhyun closed his eyes for a moment. “It’s cracked…Damn it, it’s cracked,” he said, trying to hide the bitterness in his small voice. “What the hell am I going to do now?”  
  
Chanyeol looked pitifully at the brunet beside him. “Don’t you have an extra one?”  
  
“No.”  
  
“Then what about an extra—”  
  
“I don’t have anything that’s going to fix this!” Baekhyun snapped, looking up and showing Chanyeol just how upset he was. “I checked in my bags. It had all the extras that I had. I still have photos to take, but now this lens extension is shit. I mean, you’d think that after paying a lifetime’s worth of money that it’d withstand a fucking stampede, but it doesn’t and now I can’t even—”  
  
Placing a finger on Baekhyun’s lips, Chanyeol quietly stopped his ramblings before the brunet decided to move his head away. “First of all, are you going to China, too?”  
  
Scrunching his face up at the curly haired giant, Baekhyun frowned. “Yeah—”  
  
“What flight?”  
  
“Same as the one my girls’ are taking…” Baekhyun replied slowly. “Why?”  
  
“I didn’t know you were skipping on school just to go,” Chanyeol mumbled, slightly disappointed.  
  
Snorting, Baekhyun glanced away, checking to see if SNSD was still at check-in. “Aren’t you skipping, too?”  
  
“Yeah, but I’m not the one behind,” Chanyeol pointed out.  
  
“Whatever. I don’t need this talk again,” Baekhyun muttered as turned on his heel to start walking back to the crowd. However, Chanyeol had a different idea when he grabbed his wrist.  
  
“You and I are going to be on the same flight. What’s your seat number?”  
  
“Twenty-four A.”  
  
Smirking, Chanyeol cocked his head. “Twenty-five A.”  
  
Muttering “great” under his breath, Baekhyun wrestled his wrist free. “Don’t bother me on the plane.”  
  
“What? What can I do to you?” Chanyeol scoffed. “Stand over your seat and breathe on you? I mean, I can—”  
  
“No.”  
  
Laughing, Chanyeol put his hands in his pockets. “What about your camera? What’re you going to do about that?”  
  
Glancing down at the device, Baekhyun’s lips thinned. “I’ll just fix it up when I get to my hotel.”  
  
“Where’d you book?”  
  
“Same hotel as SNSD a month ago.”  
  
“Cool.”  
  
Baekhyun raised his eyes upwards, giving the tall giant some of his attention as he studied the look on his face. “What?”  
  
“Nothing,” Chanyeol said nonchalantly as he balanced on his heels. “I’ll ask later.”  
  
“Ask it now,” Baekhyun commanded.  
  
“Later.”  
  
Creasing his brows, Baekhyun glared at him. “Stop beating around the bush. Spit it out.”  
  
Laughing, Chanyeol shook his head as he walked past Baekhyun, bothering the shorter male. “I’m always beating around the bush!” he exasperatedly said loudly. “You’re just too dumb to notice.”  
  
“Excuse me—”  
  
“Better start walking!” Chanyeol called, turning his body around for a second before spinning back towards the direction of check-in. “Your girls are finishing up.”  
  
-  
-  
  
Sitting in twenty-four A wasn’t bad. The man next to him was an old timer who fell asleep an hour after the flight took off and the next one over was his twelve year old son who wouldn’t stop imitating the airplane and motioning his hands around as he pretended to be the pilot. Baekhyun was silently glad that he had a bladder of steel, not wanting to disturb either of the people practically blocking him to the window seat from their amusement and rest.  
  
He had put his camera into his carry on seeing as how it would never get the perfect high quality that he wanted without the lens anyways. When he decided, Chanyeol had given him a very small camera that everyday people used. Before Baekhyun could shove it back and bark about not wanting pity, Chanyeol put a finger on the brunet’s lips before simply saying, “Shut up and take it, runt.”  
  
To pass the time, Baekhyun played around with the camera for a while. And while the man beside him and his son took a nap, Baekhyun’s fingers kept turning the device on and off, watching as the automatic lenses came out and retracted repeatedly until the novelty wore off and he put it away.  
  
Surprisingly, Chanyeol hadn’t tried to talk to him once, which was odd since Baekhyun expected more of a bother from the Blackjack. Curiosity got to him at one point when he shifted his body so he could look through the small crack of space on the window side to try and get a peak of the giant behind him.  
This was a mistake. It was an embarrassing mistake.  
  
Perhaps in his mind Baekhyun thought that he was being sly and secretive, but the way that Chanyeol’s eyes fell straight onto his made Baekhyun’s heart pump ten beats faster. When the kid who was staring straight back at him and wearing his snapback loosely on top of his head smirked, Baekhyun immediately faced forward again, leaning hard against his seat.  
  
He stayed that way for a while until he decided he needed something to take his mind off the idiot sitting behind him. Repeatedly tapping the touch screen in front of him, Baekhyun turned on the device and tried to play the games available on the plane.  
  
After playing all the interesting games, Baekhyun decided to play the plane trivia where passengers could anonymously play each other under usernames. Typing in his birthday number as his username, Baekhyun waited until all the spots for the online game filled up. He didn’t pay much attention to the names since all he wanted to do was play, so when the green “next” button lit up, Baekhyun quickly tapped it and proceeded to play.  
  
-  
-  
  
He hated them.  
Whoever the hell “SpunkyBabe” was, Baekhyun wanted to kill them. He constantly lost, and when he thought he would win the game, “SpunkyBabe” would always get the last crucial questions correctly, taking away the virtual title.  
  
What a motherfucker, Baekhyun thought before turning off his screen after losing for the hundredth time.  
  
-  
-  
  
When the plane arrived in China, Baekhyun wasn’t able to take pictures in customs. There were too many people, and frankly, he didn’t want to bother with the guards and the security caravan. He snuck a few pictures with his phone, but those were for mementos.  
  
-  
-  
  
Back on the plane, Baekhyun waited until the rest of the people were out to avoid being squashed in the aisle from all the passengers trying to get out of the plane at once. When he figured that the remaining crowd was doable, he stood up, only to see that Chanyeol was still sitting in his seat, which he reclined back since the passenger behind him was already gone.  
  
  
“What’re you doing?” he had asked.  
  
Chanyeol, who had his eyes closed then, opened one eye teasingly. “What do you want me to say? I was waiting for you?”  
  
“You’re fucking stupid. Never mind.”  
  
-  
-  
  
By the time Baekhyun finished with customs (Chanyeol following closely behind) SNSD had already gone out a private exit, escorted by airport guards and paid security, disabling Baekhyun from the ability to take more photos worth uploading on his site.  
  
Although the girls had gone, Baekhyun knew where they were going, so he went out to the front of the airport as fast as he could and quickly got a hold of the taxi. He hurriedly put his luggage in the trunk and hopped inside the vehicle, handing the driver a prewritten note of the hotel’s address written in perfect Chinese.  
  
Just as the man nodded and gave back the piece of paper, the side door swung open and Baekhyun was impacted with a fairly heavy duffle bag hitting his body and knocking him off to the side. Before he could say a word, Baekhyun felt himself being gently pushed ever so slightly to the left.  
  
“Thanks for getting a cab for us.”  
  
-  
-  
  
If Baekhyun could, he would’ve reached inside Chanyeol’s body and ripped out his heart so that the giant would just drop dead. He let the cab ride go, because apparently, the giant was headed to the same hotel and Baekhyun, despite not being too fond of the large giant, was all for green environmentalism and carpooling.  
  
One that Baekhyun couldn’t get past, however, was the fact that upon arriving at the hotel, Chanyeol had announced that they would be sharing the room that Baekhyun had paid for.  
  
-  
-  
  
“You’re not staying in the room that I had to fight to book,” Baekhyun growled as he watched numbers above the elevator door decrease.  
  
“But they were already booked by the time I looked online and—”  
  
“First come, first serve.”  
  
“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol said almost adamantly as if he was trying to guilt trip the boy.  
  
The shorter male wasn’t buying it. The moment the elevator rang and the doors slid open, he stepped inside and blocked Chanyeol’s attempts to join him. He pressed the floor button and did everything he could to stop Chanyeol from getting inside until the doors began to slowly close.  
  
Maybe he felt a bit of triumph, but that feeling lasted momentarily. The smile Baekhyun had on his face slowly disappeared as a sad looking blonde with a loose snapback messily planted on his head was staring at him on the other side until the doors became a physical wall between them.

 **From PCY:**  
 _I can’t believe you’re that cold hearted to turn me away. You know where I’ll be sleeping today? In the streets. Maybe you’ll at least pray I won’t get shanked in the kidney at night._  
  
 **From Shorty:**  
 _Boo hoo. You only need one kidney to live anyways_.  
  
 **From PCY:**  
 _I didn’t know you were educated on the human body. That’s cute. But anyways, let’s go eat dinner._  
  
 **From Shorty:**  
 _I’ll eat later._  
  
 **From: PCY:**  
 _First you reject to house me. Then you didn’t want to go to the mall. After that you didn’t want to walk around—I mean, we’re in China, not your grandmother’s village. There are things to see. Now you don’t want to eat. Am I ugly?_  
  
 **From Shorty:**  
 _Uglier than a hairless dog._  
  
It took a while before Baekhyun heard a ding from his phone again.  
  
 **From PCY:**  
 _Hairless dogs are so ugly you can’t help but think they’re cute. I’m taking that as an underhand compliment._  
  
-  
-  
  
The giant’s conquest to try and continue to douse Baekhyun in guilt didn’t end with the requests to dinner, which Baekhyun eventually agreed to and spend a better part of his evening arguing about the environmental issues against the giant who thought nuclear power had its uses.  
  
As he sat on his bed brushing his teeth, Chanyeol continued to send picture messages of him and his makeshift bed in the lobby.  
  
 **From PCY:**  
 _Do I look sexy right now? No. Sleeping in the lobby isn’t sexy._  
  
 **From PCY:**  
 _I had to pay the staff under the table for this couch. Do I look sad?_  
  
 **From PCY:**  
 _Do you like this angle? I’m pouting, in case you didn’t know._  
  
 **From PCY:**  
 _It’s a nice pillow, right? I’m sure if I flip it over, it’ll smell like butt. It is a cushion in the lobby after all._  
  
-  
-  
  
 **To Shorty:**  
 _I hope no one comes and shanks me here in the hotel lobby, because I—_  
  
Suddenly, Chanyeol felt a tiny shampoo bottle bop off against his head, knocking his attention from his phone and jolting him to an upright position. His eyes quickly focused, fixing themselves on the damped haired brunet who stood before him wearing his pajamas and fuzzy slippers.  
  
The innocent look about Baekhyun could’ve fooled anyone, but Chanyeol knew better.  
  
“Get up and get your shit. I’m not waiting for you.” Immediately after finishing his proclamation, Baekhyun turned back around and started walking diligently toward the elevators around the corner.  
  
-  
-  
  
The room was absolutely dark, but neither of the two boys inside was asleep. The sound of the city could be faintly heard, especially since Chanyeol opened the window despite Baekhyun’s opposition. Baekhyun was diligently going through all his accounts on his phone and replying to messages all the while lying on the only bed in the room. The giant, on the other hand, slept on the floor, using anything he could to make a makeshift bed.  
  
With an arm tucked behind his head for comfort, Chanyeol stayed quiet as he listened to the brunet’s mindless humming to SNSD soundtracks, not wanting to disturb the mini musical by speaking. It was only until after a while did Baekhyun speak up, surprising the boy on the floor.  
  
“Are you alive down there?”  
  
Chanyeol’s lips curved in the dark. “My situation could be a little better if you shared that big bed of yours.”  
  
Not surprisingly, Baekhyun didn’t reply and Chanyeol thought that was the end of it. A few minutes later, the giant heard some mumbled words before hearing Baekhyun throw his covers over and jumping out of bed, putting on his fuzzy slippers. Chanyeol didn’t sit to see what was going on until Baekhyun turned on the lamp on the side table, grabbing one of the hotel room cards.  
  
“I’ll be right back,” the brunet mumbled, shuffling his way toward the door in a tired, yet determined manner.  
  
Curious, Chanyeol called out, “Where are you going?”  
  
“Shut up,” was the answer.  
  
-  
-  
  
For a highly rated hotel, Baekhyun thought it was complete shit how there wasn’t a strong enough staff at that time of night to help him carry the stupid cot.  
  
-  
-  
  
As he was dragging the cot along the hallway, giving up on trying to carry it off the ground, Baekhyun was caught off guard when he turned a corner and hit something warm, face first. Stumbling back, he automatically rubbed his nose, whining to himself and muttering apologies under his breath. Then he felt his hand being pried away from the heavy object he was carrying.  
  
“You’re an idiot.”  
  
Rolling his eyes upward, Baekhyun frowned as he scowled—or tried to. “I better not hear you complaining anymore.”  
  
“I wasn’t even complaining to begin with.”  
  
Baekhyun stayed quiet. Then, opting to say nothing more, he let Chanyeol carry the bed as he led the way back to their room, making sure to stay at least ten feet ahead.  
  
-  
-  
  
Chanyeol snored. The douchebag snored.  
  
It bothered Baekhyun, who had stayed up longer. Getting on his knees, he crawled his way across his bed, closer and closer to where Chanyeol slept beside him. Then, leaning over, Baekhyun used his cellphone as a light source as his other hand reached down and gently close Chanyeol’s mouth, pressing his lips together.  
  
The giant was a disgusting giant who liked to lick his lips in his sleep, apparently. And unfortunately for Baekhyun, his fingers were present when the tongue came out.  
  
Instantly pulling his hand away, Baekhyun scurried back under his covers, paused for a while, and then wiped his fingers along the side of his bed.  
  
Gross, he thought.  
  
-  
-  
  
For breakfast, Baekhyun opted to stay at the hotel and eating from their American menu for tourists just to be quick about it. Chanyeol, however, decided to run out and eat from the street vendors. When he met up with the brunet in the lobby roughly after an hour, he smelled the like the streets of Beijing, but Baekhyun didn’t say anything.  
  
All he said was, “There’s something in your teeth.”  
  
  
Snorting, Chanyeol reflexively closed his mouth and tried to feel around. “No, I don’t think so. I checked.”  
  
“Well, you missed one.”  
  
“Great. Do you want to suck it out for me?” Chanyeol retorted, rolling his eyes.  
  
Baekhyun scrunched his face. “No.”  
  
“Good,” the giant said, shrugging. “Then don’t lie.”  
  
-  
-  
  
The concert wasn’t until evening, and although Baekhyun wanted to be there early to beat the crowd, it seemed unreasonable to be there ten hours prior, so he ended up going on a date with the giant Blackjack who didn’t bother to style his hair after taking a shower, leaving it slightly wavy even under his hat.  
  
But, Baekhyun didn’t consider it as a “date”. It wasn’t one by definition. They were just going around to pass the time away by eating anything and everything they could dare each other to eat. Holding each other’s hands in a crowded local market or the moment when Chanyeol held onto the brunet’s shoulders, pushing him in the direction out of there wasn’t something to be romanticized.  
  
They were just enemies in an unfamiliar country with only each other to hang out with.  
  
-  
-  
  
The concert was phenomenal, or at least in Baekhyun’s opinion. His girls sang a total of four songs, which was the highlight of the entire event. With his camera fixed up with new lenses that he bought earlier that day with the help of the giant, he was able to capture all of Sunny’s beautiful moments.  
  
When his girls were up on stage, he made sure to take shots, but to also take the time to just let one hand free so he could wave the fandom’s light stick in the air, singing and shouting his support, because in those moments, he saw nobody else but the group he loved.  
  
-  
-  
  
As Baekhyun looked over the photos on his camera in the hotel room after the concert and after-frenzy, Chanyeol sat behind him on the bed and began to dry the brunet’s damp hair, knowing that it wasn't good for the device to get dripped on by his wet hair ends. For a while, the giant hummed to himself as Baekhyun reviewed his work, and during this time, neither verbally spoke, letting the moderate silence comfortably sit with them in that moment.  
  
Then Baekhyun piped. “She’s absolutely stunning…” he said in awe under his breath. “I feel like I shouldn’t even photoshop her…”  
  
Moving his head around, Chanyeol tried to see the camera’s screen over Baekhyun’s shoulder. “Pretty.”  
  
Momentarily putting the camera on his lap, Baekhyun turned his head off to the side. “Are you being sarcastic?”  
  
“No,” Chanyeol replied with a shrug.  
  
Quirking his lips, Baekhyun got on his knees to change his position, turning his entire body around to face the giant straight on with his legs crossed. Chanyeol had let go of the towel, letting it sit around Baekhyun’s shoulders.  
  
“Not that I care,” Baekhyun said casually as he looked to the side for a second, “but how did your photos come out? Nice?”  
  
Chanyeol grinned, appreciating the niceness in their relationship at the moment. He leaned in towards the brunet; so far that Baekhyun had to move his head slightly back. “Fine, thanks for asking,” he said in a platonic voice.  
  
“Are you sure?” Baekhyun asked, suspicious of the giant’s fake manner. “I didn’t see you take a lot of shots of Dara even though she practically walked in front of us.”  
  
“Quality over quantity.”  
  
Snorting, Baekhyun rolled his eyes as he pushed Chanyeol’s face away. “Whatever. Can I see?”  
  
Smiling, Chanyeol softly laughed as Baekhyun distanced their faces. “No, you can’t.”  
  
Baekhyun frowned. “Why not? I let you see the ones that I took so it’s only fair. If not, I’ll look through your camera myself.”  
  
Placing his hands on the bed, Chanyeol leaned back and shrugged. “Go ahead, princess. I hope you’ll like what you see.”  
  
Giving the cocky giant a stare, Baekhyun pushed himself off the bed and walked over to their room’s small two-people table to snatch Chanyeol’s memory card off the top while setting down his own device. Bending down, he unlatched the extension lenses from the camera that Chanyeol had used during the concert, turned the camera’s naked form on, and slipped the memory card inside a compartment.  
Chanyeol remained on the bed, nonchalantly watching Baekhyun do with the camera as he pleased. When the expressions on Baekhyun’s face began to change as he clicked further and further into the card’s memory stock, Chanyeol shifted from the bed, throwing his legs off the side and stood up.  
  
“What is this?” Baekhyun asked, looking up from the camera and flipping it around to show the approaching giant what he was talking about. “Is this a joke?”  
  
“No,” Chanyeol calmly replied.  
  
“You took photos of me.”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
Gripping onto the camera with shaking hands, Baekhyun tried to move away as far as he could with every step that Chanyeol took, but the table and camera gear behind him thwarted his attempts. As Chanyeol became unbearably close, Baekhyun pressed himself up against the wall, wanting to be sucked into the solid structure and disappear.  
  
Chanyeol spoke again, cocking his head slightly to the side. The playful and teasing look in his eyes had faded and it scared Baekhyun to see him so serious. “I think, in all honesty? You were far more appealing to my eye than Dara, especially watching you hop around and sing along to your favorite songs.”  
  
Not knowing how to react, Baekhyun nervously laughed, trying to shake the feelings that were crawling up his body away. “Okay, I get it,” he said, attempting to curve his mouth into a smile. “That’s very funny. Why don’t you send these to me? I’ll post them on my personal account.”  
  
“I think,” Chanyeol started again, “that you and I both know I’m not joking right now, babe.”  
  
Baekhyun’s attempt to smile faded, replaced by a frown and a confused expression. “Then what the hell is this?” he asked again, more demandingly. “What? Are you making fun of me? Are you going to post these online? I look half stupid in all of them. I bet you’re going to—”  
  
Bursting out laughing, Chanyeol cut him off. “You’re very dense,” he said as he gradually lost his laughter. Although he was grinning, Baekhyun couldn’t detect any humor in his eyes. “I don’t know whether or not you’ve noticed, my tiny Sone, but I like you. A lot.”  
  
With his arms giving out, Baekhyun dropped them to his sides, camera still in one hand. “This isn’t funny, Chanyeol,” he said quietly, determined not to break eye contact. “Just say the punch line already and back off…”  
  
“You want to know the punch line?” Chanyeol said, closing the last bit of space that was present between them, forcing Baekhyun to bite his lips as he neared. “I’m a Blackjack in love with a Sone. Isn’t that funny? I ended up falling in love with the little runt who broke my nose the first time that we met.”  
  
“Chanyeol—”  
  
“Sadly,” Chanyeol went on, overriding Baekhyun’s voice, “you’ve been a little dense for the last year and a half. Ever since that night, you’ve been involved in some sort of one sided competition with me.”  
  
Gently holding Baekhyun’s chin and tilting up upwards to face him, Chanyeol grinned when he saw Baekhyun’s face flush of all color except for the subtle brush of red on his cheeks. Then, without warning, he leaned down and tilted his head, barely slanting his lips over Baekhyun’s. “Permission to kiss?” he asked.  
  
Taken aback and with nowhere else to back away to, Baekhyun’s lips parted. “I-I don’t know!”  
  
“Well, you should say yes,” Chanyeol suggested, brushing his lips on Baekhyun’s mouth. “Because it’d be a bitchy thing for you to say no, you know?”  
  
“I…I don’t—”  
  
“I won’t kiss you unless you say yes.”  
  
Baekhyun’s jaw slacked. “Oh, how modest of y—”  
  
In a second, Chanyeol’s lips were on the brunet’s, cutting his sentence off. Baekhyun’s lips were closed tight at first until he gave in, parting them when his lungs began to burn. Before he could respond, Chanyeol released him, caressing the brunet’s face and stroking it with his thumb. “You took too long.”  
  
“Wha—I didn’t even—You said!” Baekhyun cried, flustered, yet forgetting to push distance between them.  
  
“I got tired of waiting for the yes,” Chanyeol shrugged, slowly letting his hand fall from Baekhyun’s face. “But you liked it, right?”  
  
Frowning, Baekhyun unconsciously moved his hand to his mouth. “What the hell? Why would you even ask that shit?”  
  
“So, that’s an automatic yes,” the giant declared.  
  
“No, it’s not, because I’m conf—”  
  
Grabbing the smaller male’s waist, Chanyeol used his superior strength to pull the both of them towards the bed, surprising Baekhyun by pushing on the mattress and climbing on top of him. For a couple of long seconds, Baekhyun shrunk in spirit as Chanyeol watched him intently from above. Keeping his mouth shut, he said nothing as it seemed as though the giant was inspecting every aspect of him in that position.  
  
“What’re you doing?” he finally squeaked with his body tense.  
  
“I don’t know,” Chanyeol mumbled back with a cheeky grin on his face. “I just liked kissing you the first time around. I’ve been waiting for it since the first time we met, you know. Maybe not immediately after you punched me, but you know how that goes.”  
  
“I’m…” Baekhyun couldn’t find the right words.  
  
Giving the male under him a comforting smile, Chanyeol softly laughed. “What? What do you have to say? Just say it.”  
  
“I don’t know what I want to say.” The answer came softly as Baekhyun fought with himself and the discomfort he had concerning his indecisiveness. “I just…want to know what you’re doing.”  
  
“Well, since I didn’t give you the choice last time, I’ll ask you again. Fair?” the giant proposed. “Permission to kiss?”  
  
With nothing else to go off of, Baekhyun nibbled on the insides of his bottom lip as thoughts dwindled into his head. Then his eyes drifted to the male’s mouth above him and when he realized where his attention had gone, Baekhyun stopped breathing.  
  
A “yes” was at the tip of his tongue, surprisingly, but frankly, he was scared of wondering where it was all going. The first kiss was a surprise, not unpleasant, and Baekhyun wasn’t offended although the tall Blackjack was the last person he ever thought of kissing. And besides that fact, Baekhyun was unsure as to what Chanyeol really wanted past the kiss, though it wasn’t too hard to decipher.  
Before he could let his mind wander elsewhere, Chanyeol flicked him on the chin, garnering his attention once again and bringing him back down. “Hello in there. I’m still waiting for the yes.”  
  
Gulping, Baekhyun pursed his lips even more before he awkwardly replied under pressure. “The first one wasn’t that shitty.”  
  
Grinning from ear to ear, Chanyeol finally lowered himself down and gently slotted his lips in with the brunet’s. Nudging Baekhyun’s legs apart, he positioned himself in the conjunction of the thighs, gradually pressing himself against Baekhyun’s body more.  
  
Knowing that for the moment he had possibly made a turning-point decision by subtly agreeing, Baekhyun decided that maybe for one night, he’d just let things happen. As Chanyeol took control of his mouth, the brunet beneath him was slowly becoming undone as he raised his arms and wrapped them around the giant’s neck.  
  
Then Baekhyun pulled his lips away and turned his face off to the side when Chanyeol tried to reclaim them. The giant furrowed his eyebrows as he lifted himself off slightly and frowned at the small male looking up at him, Baekhyun pulled him back down, placing his lips on the other’s neck.  
  
Letting his eyes close, Chanyeol softly moaned, letting his hands wander from the side of Baekhyun’s body all the way down until his large hands rested against the brunet’s waist. He shifted, pressing into Baekhyun’s body. The brunet rolled his hips and, for the love of god, Chanyeol didn’t know whether or not that action was on purpose, but it got him excited.  
  
Gasping, he tore himself away from the contact of Baekhyun’s lips and cupped his face, placing short kisses on the boy’s lips and cheeks, making Baekhyun scrunch his face. Then he gave the brunet one last kiss before getting up and licking his bottom and upper lip. As he watched Baekhyun breathe heavily on the bed, looking right back at him with his face heatedly red, Chanyeol gave him a tired grin.  
  
“Any more of that,” he said breathlessly, “and I would’ve wanted more.”  
  
Baekhyun’s lips went into a straight line at the confession as he knew that it was the truth.  
  
“I think…” the giant paused. “I think we should go to bed.”  
  
Wordlessly, Baekhyun glanced over at the clock, and when he could, he said, “it’s only twelve forty-seven.”  
  
“Exactly,” Chanyeol said as he leaned over and pulled Baekhyun’s body to one side, shifting his position so that his feet faced the foot of the bed. “It’s too late to get excited over you…So we’ll just go to sleep.”  
  
In the seconds that followed, embarrassment washed over Baekhyun’s entire body and he suddenly kicked the covers open, slipped inside, and throwing the bed covers back on him, giving Chanyeol his back. “Sleep on the fucking floor then.”  
  
After their spontaneous moment together, Chanyeol knew he wasn’t going to have any of that. Instead, he hurriedly picked up Baekhyun’s wet towel off the hotel floor and went to the bathroom to place it on one of the racks. And once he finished quickly washing his hands, he evaluated his appearance in the mirror and was completely satisfied.  
  
Not soon afterwards, once the lights were all turned off except for the one near the bed, Chanyeol crawled inside and was immediately attacked in an unromantic way. Baekhyun popped up from under and tried to push him off.  
  
The struggle had never been more real than at that point. Baekhyun managed to push Chanyeol to the floor once, but when the giant came back around for round two, he came back more determined. Getting on, he found Baekhyun’s hands trying to move him over the edge again and eventually won, managing to wrap his arms around the struggling brunet all the while throwing the covers on both of them.  
And even when Baekhyun was completely locked into a spooning position, he kept moving around, unconsciously rubbing himself physically against Chanyeol to a point where the giant finally decided to blow on the brunet’s neck, and immediately disabled him. After then, he couldn’t resist the temptation, placing his mouth softly against Baekhyun’s skin.  
  
Once all movement declined to none, Chanyeol smiled against the neck. “Good. Our flight’s at seven in the morning. We need to go to sleep and worry about updates later, alright? Besides, I like it here on the bed with you. Last night was hell on the floor.”  
  
Baekhyun didn’t say a word for a few minutes until he began to slowly release the tension in his shoulders. When he finally opened his mouth to respond, he felt like he waited too long and decided to remain silent as he had been before.  
  
-  
-  
  
Baekhyun had a dream slash nightmare.  
  
Perhaps it was from the euphoria he felt before going to bed, despite constantly telling himself to stop feeling happy and giddy over the interaction that went on between him and the Blackjack. Baekhyun didn’t know, but whatever it was that caused it, it created a dream that night.  
  
In the dream, he was dating Chanyeol. He should’ve been scared to be dating the curly haired, gum-smacking giant, but he wasn’t. They went on a typical date with their hands locked together as they laughed and joked around at the park. It was a warm and comforting dream; to be in a relationship such as that was something Baekhyun secretly craved.  
  
However, as the dream went on, Baekhyun saw his worst fears come to play. When he tried to update his fan site, Chanyeol wouldn’t allow him, telling he should stop obsessing over such a group. Afterwards, Baekhyun didn’t know why, but for Chanyeol, he gave up the very group that had given him happiness since the moment they came out.  
  
Love was something he both yearned for and feared. In the dream, Baekhyun interpreted the meaning of “love” with blind following, leaving his beloved girls to cheer and support Chanyeol’s 2NE1.  
  
When he woke up, Baekhyun remembered feeling a sadness that could’ve dropped him down to his knees if he was standing. The very thought of giving up what he loved for another person and pretending to be somebody that he wasn’t just for them utterly killed him.  
  
And maybe it was because of that fear and thought that Baekhyun slipped away from Chanyeol’s arms at four in the morning, quietly packed the few items that he still needed to stuff in his duffle bags, and quietly left the hotel room. The clerk at the front desk gave him an odd look, most likely wondering what the hell he was doing leaving the hotel building at such a time.  
  
He merely gave her a small nod before walking out of the glass doors and calling a cab to take him to the airport.  
  
-  
-  
  
When Baekhyun got to the airport, the check-in desks for his airline were on and open. There was a modest group of people, but it didn’t take long for him to get his bags in and ticket printed. And because of his early-bird check-in, he got a promising seat near the front of the plane.  
  
After getting his flight business taken care of, Baekhyun promptly took his carry on and backpack and started heading to the pat down areas to be processed before going to his gate number.  
  
-  
-  
  
He spent a majority of the waiting period avoiding being alone.  
  
For his very early breakfast, Baekhyun visited a café, ate some bread and drank some coffee all the while with his back facing the walkway where other passengers were passing by.  
  
-  
-  
  
When it was time to board, Baekhyun was near the first in line to go in. After getting on, it didn’t matter whether or not Chanyeol saw him when passing because it wasn’t like the giant could just stop and converse with him without holding people up in line. Once his things were put away, Baekhyun just sat in his seat, staring out the window, casually looking into nothing, but the pitch black appearance of the outside world.  
  
-  
-  
  
As the plane became more and more filled with people and both of the seats next to him became occupied, Baekhyun mentally released some of the stress that he felt about being confronted. However, the relaxation didn’t last long.  
  
A female flight attendant came to his attention when she began speaking to the man and woman next to him. When he looked up, Chanyeol stood beside the attendant with a small boy holding his hand. Too focused on the fact that Chanyeol was staring somewhat angrily at him, Baekhyun wasn’t able to listen in on what was being discussed. Then all of a sudden, the couple next to him gracefully rose, took their things, and was relocated. Immediately following after, Chanyeol took the seat next to him and placed the kid in the aisle seat.  
  
Chanyeol didn’t speak to him right away. Instead, he sat there, occupying both of the arm rests on either side of him and leaving Baekhyun to feel awkward. Glancing at the kid, the brunet had to wonder who the hell the giant just kidnapped for his ploy, but before he could ask, the guy who he decided to ditch finally turned his head towards him.  
  
“Did I accidentally sleep through some sort of alarm for the both of us, or did you really mean to ditch me?” Chanyeol sarcastically asked with a face just as bitter as the remark. “You must’ve gotten up bright and early to get a seat this far up the plane. I came here about an hour ago and I got one all the way in the back.”  
  
“That sucks,” Baekhyun automatically said, immediately regretting how indifferent he sounded.  
  
Chanyeol looked him over. “You know what else sucks? Being ditched by someone you kinda said you liked a lot.”  
  
Baekhyun glanced down at the ground before turning his face to the window. “We didn’t travel together. I came to China for SNSD. You came here for 2NE1. I wasn’t aware I had to share my travel plans with you and details like when I planned on leaving.”  
  
For a minute, the giant was silent. Then, “Why’re you being a bitch, babe?”  
  
Baekhyun’s eyes widened at the question before darting to the kid. “Did you just curse in front of a kid?”  
  
“Yeah, I did,” Chanyeol curtly confirmed.  
  
“Chanyeol, that kid’s like ten—”  
  
“No,” Chanyeol cut, “he’s twenty-two. I told this ‘kid’ I liked him and kissed him—tongue and all. Oh, he kissed me back, too. He responded very positively, so guess what? I took it as a good sign. Anyways, I thought we were both good until my alarm for six woke me up and saw that he left. I went looking for him, but what do you know, he was avoiding me. Then I found here in—what seat is this? 16A?” he asked.  
  
“Well, here, in 16A, I found him after our grand cat and mouse game.”  
  
Keeping his eyes firmly to the window, Baekhyun rubbed his fingers together in anxiety. “What’s your point?”  
  
“My point is,” Chanyeol said, unable to keep his voice stable and low, “is that you led me on—or you’re leading me on. Depends if you’re still doing it now.”  
  
“I’m not doing anything,” Baekhyun argued, still facing the airplane’s structure. “You kissed me, I liked it, so I kissed you back. End of story.”  
  
“Stop lying to me, runt muffin,” Chanyeol said, clicking his tongue and shaking his head. “You like me. I know it. If you did—if you really hated me, your so-called ‘arch-enemy’, then you wouldn’t have pressed your body against mine like the way you did last night. You wouldn’t have stuck your tongue down my throat or took the initiative to lick your way down my neck.”  
  
The brunet didn’t move, but Chanyeol could see his face in the reflection of the window. Then he leaned over, took Baekhyun’s face with his thumb and finger, and forced the brunet to look up at him. “Look at me.”  
  
“I don’t like your shirt. What kind of shit is Nolza—”  
  
“Baekhyun.”  
  
Pursing his lips, Baekhyun sucked it up and raised his eyes. “What?”  
  
“What’s the problem?” Chanyeol asked in a low voice as to not let the other passengers in on their conversation any more than they already were. “You were okay yesterday, so what the hell?”  
  
Baekhyun thought about avoiding it again, but when he moved his head ever so slightly away, the grip of Chanyeol’s thumb on his cheek tightened. “I went to bed. That’s what happened.”  
  
“I don’t understand,” Chanyeol responded flatly. “Is it because I refused to suck on anything but your tongue—”  
  
“That’s gross—”  
  
“I’m only asking,” the giant insisted.  
  
Sighing, Baekhyun pushed Chanyeol’s hand away gently with his. For a second, Chanyeol thought that Baekhyun was pulling away even more, but all thoughts vanished when his hand stand wrapped around the giant’s wrist. “I had a dream. You and I were dating. Then it turned into a nightmare.”  
  
Chanyeol’s jaw slacked at the comment, unsure of how to feel. “I’m sorry that dating the dream version of me was that horrible?”  
  
Shaking his head, Baekhyun stopped him. “No. Dating you was great, but—”  
  
“Really now?” the giant interrupted, raising his brows at the comment.  
  
Rolling his eyes, Baekhyun mentally shot himself on the foot. “Yeah, but—”  
  
“You know, dreams are great indications of what could be,” Chanyeol said, wiggling a finger in front of Baekhyun’s face. “Science says so.”  
  
“Yeah, well you made me give up on Girls’ Generation in that dream, so if dreams really do indicate signs, getting involved with you must not be the thing to do in this life style,” Baekhyun quickly said, letting go of Chanyeol’s hand as he spoke. “Let’s just remain as colleagues.”  
  
Chanyeol drew his eyebrows in, giving Baekhyun a dissatisfied frown. “No.”  
  
“What do you mean ‘no’?” Baekhyun said incredulously. “Since you like science so much, here’s a little analogy. I’m water. You’re oil. We’ll never mix.”  
  
“We don’t have to mix,” Chanyeol argued. “We can still do our own thing and go out. Dating doesn’t mean we have to turn into something we’re both not. Besides, I don’t want to be colleagues. I didn’t do all this work just to be friend-zoned because of some dream.”  
  
“Chanyeol—”  
  
“Do you really think that if you decided to date me I would make you unstan the girls you practically live and breathe for?” the giant questioned him, cocking his head. “Do I seem like that type of person?”  
  
Baekhyun didn’t immediately answer. He knew that Chanyeol was not, but there were illogical fears inside of him. “I don’t know. Maybe.”  
  
“Wrong,” Chanyeol sighed. “I’m not. If you like them, fine. I can’t do anything about that.”  
  
“But I love them,” Baekhyun reminded adamantly.  
  
“Yes, I know,” the other said, nodding his head impatiently.  
  
Baekhyun glanced past him to check and see if they were causing a seen. As he saw, they were not. Even the child that the giant had taken was busy playing interactive games on his screen. Afterwards, Baekhyun gave Chanyeol his attention again.  
  
“You love 2NE1.”  
  
“Yeah. So?”  
  
“You hate SNSD,” Baekhyun said, giving him a blank look. “I can’t be with someone who hates them.”  
  
Groaning, Chanyeol rubbed his eyes as he leaned against his seat for a moment before turning his head towards Baekhyun again. “Used to,” he said. “I used to.”  
  
“Once a hater, always a hater,” Baekhyun sarcastically hummed.  
  
“Not true!” Chanyeol piped, pointing a finger in front of Baekhyun’s face, causing the brunet to crane his head back. “Not true at all. I’m a changed guy.”  
  
“Yeah, okay,” the smaller male snorted.  
  
Pursing his lips in a blank fashion, Chanyeol rolled his eyes as he pulled out his cellphone from his pocket. When Baekhyun told him to turn it off because they were on an aircraft, the giant scoffed, muttering for the brunet to shut up and look.  
  
Thrusting the phone in Baekhyun’s face, Chanyeol tilted his head. “Look at it. Does it look familiar?”  
  
Moving his eyes to the phone, Baekhyun frowned. As his eyes focused in, his brain recognized the photos of Sunny. They were fairly recent and Baekhyun swore he had seen them somewhere. It took a few more seconds before it dawned on him that they were the same pictures he had uploaded on his fan site from the concert in Japan a while back.  
  
Snapping his attention back to Chanyeol, Baekhyun opened his mouth to speak, but his jaw only slacked. It took a minute for him to finally find his voice. “So what?” he said in an uneasy voice. “It’s a picture of Sunny in Japan. I have it on my site.”  
  
Taking the phone back, Chanyeol returned it to its standby mode. “Guess who took that photo, babe,” he said as he stuffed it back in his pocket. When Baekhyun didn’t answer, the giant knew that the male beside him had gotten the hint. “I was one of the people who volunteered for you.”  
  
Baekhyun had nothing to say, but Chanyeol had expected that. “I took pictures for you at other events, too, you know. It was all under different usernames. And just to say, I even waved the light sticks you gave out for the concert in Taiwan, no matter how that hurt my manly pride to wave around a pink light stick, alright? Another thing,” he said, pausing, “remember that fan gift for your birthday? The signed album and Nature Republic goods? Yeah, you’re welcome.”  
  
“But…” Baekhyun stopped. Out of nowhere, he suddenly felt hot. Reaching upwards, he twisted his seat airway on, suddenly being blasted by cool air before sitting back down and glaring at the seat in front of him. Then, he turned his head back at Chanyeol. “You hate SNSD.”  
  
“Once you stumble on some badly done dance covers by BaekStar4 online, they don’t seem that bad.”  
With his face turning red, Baekhyun couldn’t help himself. He lifted his hands up into fists and began hitting the passenger next to him. “You’re such a motherfucker—”  
  
Chanyeol struggled with defending himself until he was able to grab onto Baekhyun’s wrists. It didn’t matter to him how they had the eyes of a few other passengers looking their way. He just grinned. “Would you still want to date me? I swear on my collection of albums and goods that I’ll never tell you to stop liking SNSD or making amateur dance covers to their songs or even deciding to sing along to the hits that come on the radio sometimes. And if you ever need any type of lenses, I have it. I’ll let you borrow it all.”  
  
Baekhyun studied Chanyeol’s cheeky grin. “You’re not going to tell me to sell my stuff?”  
  
“Would I dare?” Chanyeol chuckled.  
  
“You better not tell me to shut my site down,” the brunet warned.  
  
Chanyeol let go of one of Baekhyun’s hands to hold up his own palm. “Never.” Putting his hand back down, he paused for a second. “Are we done with these terms and conditions for dating?”  
  
Baekhyun thought about it. “No. Lastly, you can’t force me to stan 2NE1. I only have room in my heart and memory cards for SNSD at the moment. I can’t be multi-fandom right now.”  
  
“That’s fine by me,” Chanyeol shrugged. “But you have to accompany me to events sometimes and cheer them on with me.”  
  
“Why?” Baekhyun said, giving him a look.  
  
Scoffing, Chanyeol brought a hand to his face. “You know, I really didn’t have to fly to other countries for events that didn’t even have 2NE1 as visiting artists just for you. The least you could do is be a supportive boyfriend and wave around a white light stick.”  
  
Sighing, Baekhyun looked away, figuring that the giant had a point. At the moment, it seemed somewhat surreal to him that he had practically negotiated the terms and conditions of their new relationship. He wasn’t exactly sure if there was really something there on his behalf despite knowing that Chanyeol was damn sure about wanting to romantically court him for reasons beyond Baekhyun’s human understanding. However, it wasn’t as though he really hated the curly haired, snapback beanstalk, and the blonde had already promised that their relationship would end up nothing like their dream.  
  
Baekhyun figured he might as well give it a try.  
  
After a while of not speaking to each other, Baekhyun looked up at Chanyeol again. The giant must’ve felt eyes on him because he reciprocated the action and looked down. Remembering the child in the aisle seat, Baekhyun finally asked out of curiosity, “Who’s the kid?”  
  
Looking back at the kid next to him, Chanyeol shrugged as he turned his face back at Baekhyun. “I don’t know. I kind of paid him to be my pretend-brother.” When it became obvious that the brunet was no longer following, the taller male bobbled his head from side to side. “I might’ve told the attendant we were all brothers and that we got separated by the ticket clerk. Family has to stick together, I told her.”  
  
Blankly looking at Chanyeol, Baekhyun quirked his brows. “You told her we were brothers?”  
  
“Yeah,” Chanyeol said indifferently as he shrugged. Then as he gave Baekhyun a sharp look, he smirked.  
  
“Don’t get me wrong. I might’ve told her we were brothers, but the things that I want to do you are extremely dirty.”  
  
Closing his eyes, Baekhyun inwardly groaned as he hit his head against the window, thinking about how long of a flight he had to endure. He stayed that way even when he heard Chanyeol laughing and felt the giant’s large hands sliding their way over his and holding onto them. Although the giant might’ve expected it, the runt didn’t pull away.  
  
-  
-  
  
“Study.”  
  
“No, I have to get the orders for the manufacturers done.”  
  
“Baekhyun.”  
  
“No.”  
  
Getting off the brunet’s bed, Chanyeol moved to where the small male was hunched over with his computer on the floor. Sliding down beside him, the giant slanted his shoulders down as he tilted his head to try and see what was on Baekhyun’s screen. “I see that you have a tab open on word document. Could that be your Econ paper?”  
  
“Maybe,” Baekhyun said distractedly as he filled out forms, checking back and forth to write down the orders correctly.  
  
“How done are you?”  
  
“Almost.”  
  
The answer came too dismissively that Chanyeol scoffed. Taking the laptop off Baekhyun’s lap, Chanyeol took it into his position, pulling a flash drive from his back pocket and sticking it inside the device. When Baekhyun tried to take it back, Chanyeol turned his body to block his attempt.  
  
“What’re you trying to do? I have things to do!” Baekhyun whined, getting on his knees and trying harder to retrieve the laptop back.  
  
“Calm your horses, runt!” Chanyeol said loudly. Within a few seconds, he unplugged the flash drive and gently pushed Baekhyun back on his butt. “Here.”  
  
Staring at the flash drive in the giant’s hand, Baekhyun frowned. “What a stupid looking thing,” he mumbled, commenting on the banana appearance of the small piece of technology.  
  
Rolling his eyes, Chanyeol took one of Baekhyun’s hands and forced him to take it. “My laptop’s underneath my bed, next to the condoms you haven’t given me the chance to use yet.”  
  
Baekhyun’s jaw unhinged, hanging for a few seconds before Chanyeol used two of his fingers to lift the smaller male’s chin back up. “Your essay’s on it. Go work on it. I’ll do your orders.” As Baekhyun failed to reply, the giant smiled. “You can say thank you.”  
  
“I don’t need your help,” the brunet mumbled.  
  
“Your mouth says no, but your grades cry ‘daddy’,” Chanyeol laughed, shaking his head. “Stop being a little stubborn short muffin and go do your homework. You procrastinate more than I do.”  
  
Groaning in reply, Baekhyun held onto the drive tightly in his hand as he scrambled to his feet. Fixing his shirt, he huffed. “Fine,” he said under his breath, turning to the door. “Don’t mess up the orders. I’ll kill you.”  
  
“Cross my heart and hope to die, babe,” Chanyeol said, blowing his gum up into a bubble before letting it pop.  
  
Baekhyun pursed his lips and snorted as he turned away in disgust.  
  
But he wasn’t disgusted at all. In fact, he didn’t mind the giant’s habits anymore, though it wasn’t like he was going to admit it. He would rather have Sunny’s breasts deflate than to admit anything to the giant.  
  
The brunet was that stubborn.  
  
-  
-  
  
“What the hell…”  
  
“What?”  
  
“You have pictures of me on this fucking flash drive—oh god, I didn’t do my hair that day.”  
  
“Still looked amazing.”  
  
“Shut up…you cheap creeper.”


End file.
